Of Angels and Demons
by Inked Out on Speed
Summary: Au. Yoai. 1X2 possibly 3X4 The Human's war will destroy the realms of Araeisth and Dehouen. They both send mercenaries to end the war. If they can make it that long.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary:**AU. I don't want to spoil it, but what if some of the Gundam Boys weren't human? More like angels and demons... Come to stop a war that threatens the boundaries of their realms?

**Author's Notes: **This story is Yaoi. If you don't like it, don't read it. This really is a Gundam fanfic, just bear with me until chapter six, and then it more or less follows the Gundam timeline.It's actuallyan adaptation of an original story of mine. Fit to Gundam Wing... 'cause I was bored. Anyways, enjoy, and please review!

**Pairings:** HeeroXDuo for sure, and possibly QuatreXTrowa later on.

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**Chapter One**

My appearance is human, my voice is human, but my human qualities end there. Everything human about me is fake, a disguise, a fucking LIE.

Angels are perceived; by some religious people as the soldiers, protectors, messengers, minions, of God. The truth is, all angels know of gods, is that they, if they do exist at all, do not conspire with us.

There are angels, and there are demons, but neither are the stereotypes that humans give them. You could say that the best stereotypes for other-realm creatures, is human. Humans vary, as do demons and angels. Some angels are as corrupt as demons are perceived to be, and some demons' hearts are as pure as liquid light. As humans are ignorant, so to are we. These are personality aspects. In appearance, there are some differences. All angels have wings. They vary in colour, but all of us have them. We can hide them, if we so choose, but even some of the more perceptive of humans could see them, most certainly other angels. Demons vary in appearance. They can look human, animal, elemental, but they all have at least a hint of violet in their eyes. Both of our races have the capacity to live forever.

Angels, mortals, and demons could not simply co-exist. There are different dimensions. I grew up in Araeisth, Realm of Angels. Demons have a separate dimension, Dehouen. The humans live in a realm that is between Araeisth and Dehouen. It used to be a void, an empty realm, called Eassentoryole. Eassentoryole means, in an ancient language from before different realms, ceaseless black. After the humans became a part of this world, it was re-named Naejhek.

How humans, animals, and other living organisms came to populate Naejhek, I have no idea. But there is a reason for their existence.

At one time, there was only one realm, Susseriel, but, as the races became diverse, the need to separate Susseriel became great. Thus, the one vast realm became three; Araeisth, Eassentoryole, and Dehouen. The demons took Dehouen, the angels Araeisth, and Eassentoryole was left the empty realm between the two. Though we may be immortal, many tire of life, and, after many millennia, as the oldest of the demons and angels chose death as their savior, Susseriel was forgotten. Not completely; it was documented, of course, but not many choose to tackle the seemingly endless volumes of documents and scrolls that had collected over the years. As both demons and angels knew that each existed, curiosity was inevitable. The barriers between the realms, though they were strong, could be breached with magics known to few. Demons came through the barriers of Dehouen, into Eassentoryole, while angels invaded from Araeisth. Over several thousand more years, angels and demons continued to migrate to Eassentoryole and any protests from those who knew and heeded the whispers of the past, were ignored with flagrant disregard.

Racism and hatred are as inevitable as they are pointless and disgusting. Demons and angels, as before, feuded. War broke out in Eassentoryole. The impacts of the war were felt everywhere. The barriers between Eassentoryole and the other realms began to deteriorate. Those of other realms were still brothers with those who chose to migrate to the middle realm. Predictably, when war was waged, they flocked to the aid of their comrades. Full scale war broke down the barriers completely.

Many, many creatures died in the Great War, for though we have the capacity to be immortal, death also visits us in the form of others, their magic, and their weapons… and suicide, of course.

Peace must follow war. Though it took many years, the number of deaths, the endless fighting, whatever it was, it knocked some sense into those who fought. A ceasefire was called, and an uneasy peace ensued.

We could not live with each other. For the safety of all, the re-united realm was again divided. Magical barriers were once more erected, and Araeisth, Dehouen, and Eassentoryole, for the second time, came into existence.

Eassentoryole was no longer a ceaseless black. The remnants, the debris of war, the expended after-magic was all left in Eassentoryole. I said that I do not know how living things came to populate Eassentoryole, but my guess would be that all of the after-magic and debris of war somehow clashed, and fused together, in a weird kind of alchemy. We, in Araeisth still did regular readings of the realm between us and the demons, just in case they decided to try anything suspicious. I am certain that they read the contents of the said realm just as closely as we do. When it was discovered that new beings had come into existence, those that were neither demon, nor angel; in Araeisth, those who kept the scrolls simply could not live with name of the middle realm being Eassentoryole, when the meaning of the name was so obviously incorrect. They re-named it Naejhek, which means in the ancient tongue, "Realm of others."

How do I know all of this forgotten history? I have read the scrolls. All of them. I have met with those wisest, those burdened with many years. It was my duty. My childhood consisted of training, and schooling. I became a perfect soldier, a master of all weapons in existence, especially magic. I learned all that there is to know of demons, humans, and angels. Our history is burned into my mind. I am Blaze.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Notes: **Thank you so much to pure as liquid light. First review! YAY! Yeah, you are absolutely right. This next chapter is from the demon's POV. I've got up to chapter six already typed up, so I'll probably be updating once a day till there.So here you are, pure as light; chappy two.

**Disclaimer: **Don't own Gundam.**

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**Chapter Two**

"I am a nothing, I am worse than a nothing, I do not exist"

"Again"

"I am a nothing, I am worse than a nothing, I do not exist"

"Of course. Remember that. You are lucky that I do not simply kill you."

"Yes my Dank-reah-nen."

"You are excused."

I stood, bowed, and waited until my master, the Dank-reah-nen; left to stand up. Unfolding my body from the bow sent a shockwave of pain up my spine.

_Even Nonentities feel pain_, I thought sarcastically.

I am a Worse Than Nothing, a Sen-oh-dank. Simply put, I am below the bottom of the food chain, less than a slave. My existence is not recognized anywhere in Dehouen. I am marked with the Dank-reah-nen's symbol, a tattoo on my wrist and around my waist. I am abhorred by all that have a Rank. My sole purpose is to be the demon punching bag for the Dank-reah-nen. Among other things.

I limped out of the main chamber and down the hall towards the water room. I took all of my injuries into account as I pumped water into a bucket. The Dank-reah-nen had been especially cruel today. The bleeding welts on my back that he had put there with a whip felt very deep. Wincing as I ran the water over my back, cool streamers down my chest, licking my wounds, fighting back the fiery pain that threatened to consume. I wondered who had pissed him off. I wondered if that person had any idea what happened to me because of them. _Stop. It is your only purpose to bear the beatings of the Dank-reah-nen._ Why me. I can't help these thoughts, they come, even if I don't want them, they come! Why! WHY? What the HELL did I ever do?

_The bucket falls, water spills across the floor. It soaks my feet, it spreads like a disease. The water upsets me, I just don't know why. It shouldn't, but it feels as though it is too much, the weight, the pressure, the air, is just too much. And then the Goddamn FUCKING water spills! A tear escapes… NO… I can't… But once I start, I cannot seem to stop. All seeming so…unreal. Flooding tears now… So unlike the water… They do not soothe the pain… they burn worse… I am drowning in the burning… falling… **Blackness.**_


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Notes: **Wow.. I have to correct myself. The thanks for the first review should go to **keiichisei**, not "pure as liquid light"... Which was a quote from my story.. blush Sorry for that, I blame my inexperience with And my stupidity... Anyways, this chapter is extremely short, as are chapters 4 and 5. Bwahahahaha. Oh well, not much to be done about it. I can say that a plot is starting to develope though! Thank you also to**Kyokorain, **and **C-Chan2 a.k.a. Neptunesdemon **for reveiwing.

**Disclaimer:** I do notown Gundam Wing.

Blaze's P.O.V.

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**Chapter Three**

It has been decided that I, Blaze, heir of Hairel and Gwideon, shall be sent to Naejhek. Though the barriers between the worlds are strong, they have been weakened by the feuding of humans. The Seer has foreseen that the great war to come will, if not for intervention, go on until the barriers are broken. I will be the intervention. The war will begin in a few years, and I am to be sent, as a human child, to Naejhek. To prevent history from repeating itself.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Notes: **I know how annoying these stupid short chapters must be, but after chappie five, I promise that they will lengthen out. kneels and begs for forgiveness Many thanks to **keiichisei**, who once again reveiwed for both of my updated chapters. YAY! And who is also one very smart cookie. Thanks to **Shinigami Soldier**, for giving me some very helpful hints and a great reveiw as well. Thank you also to **C-Chan2 a.k.a. Neptunesdemon **for reveiwing. Ahem, on with the important stuff. The plot thickens! This chapter is the demon's POV.

**Disclaimer:** As much as I wish that I had been the genius who thought up Gundam Wing, I am not.

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**Chapter Four**

On my knees, I watch as the Dank-reah-nen storms into the room. He is fuming.

"I have no wish, none at all. Let those inferior humans die in their own wars, I will not go and play peacemaker."

"Sir, if this war happens, it will break the barriers!"

"Oh. I see. Fine."

I frowned. The Dank-reah-nen did not care for demons or people, or the boundaries between them. He was scheming how to get out of the dirty job for sure. He would never agree without a plan. He turned to me, and I flinched. He was still angry.

"On the floor."

Lying down on the floor, I was glad that some of my wounds had had some time to heal. THIS was going to hurt. As the Dank-reah-nen pulled out a whip, I was doubly glad at the prospect of the Dank-reah-nen leaving.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Notes: **Alrighty! Last short chappie! I know everyone really hates them, and all that jazz, but, I also hate short chapters, and if I didn't think they were neccessary, believe, me, they wouldn't be here. Angel's POV. Please don't kill me when you see how short this chapter is.

Thanks to the followong people for reveiwing Chapter four:

**C-Chan2 a.k.a. Neptunesdemon**

**keiichisei**

**Britzy**

**Schmoogy**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Gundam... yadda yadda yadda.

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**Chapter Five**

Looking around, I decided that it would take a while to get used to not seeing wings. My human body feels strange and weak. The war will begin in a few years, I have not much time to train it to do what it must. I cannot use magic, so I must make this shell stronger.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Notes: **Yes! Thanks for bearing with me! The short chapters are done and over with. I hope you like this one. I do. It gave me brain cramps :P This chappie is the demon's P.O.V. Oh yeah, and now enters the Gundam storyline, more or less.

Thank you to the following for reveiwing chappie five:

**C-Chan2 a.k.a. Neptunesdemon**

**keiichisei**

**Disclaimer: **Don't own Gundam.

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**Chapter Six**

The port-hole through the barrier was glowing green. I stared openly. As did most of the Dank-reah-nen's court.

"The port hole will take one person through, you must go alone." The Chief Magic Demon paled when he saw the brief expression of anger pass over the Dank-reah-nen's face. Though it was gone in an instant.

"You will be put into a human body, a few years before the war begins. So that youmay become accustomed to the life of a human."

"Very well." The Dank-reah-nen stepped up to the portal, and then he stopped. "Bring me my Sen-oh-dank. I wish to speak with him."

I pushed forwards, to stand next to my master. I could feel the tug of the port hole.

"Sir?"

"I have enjoyed your company, and you will do one more thing before we part."

"Master, I-"

I found myself being forced into the portal, and with one brutal push from the Dank-reah-nen, I lost my balance. I was sucked through, and I entered a world of agony. My body contorted, and I felt my being part from my flesh. God, the pain was so terrible. Suddenly I was thrust forth, and I was fused with a different flesh from my own demon body. The pressure of reality returned. My head was spinning, and then all I could see and feel was darkness.

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"Yo, you awake?"

Someone was talking to me.

"Can you hear me?"

"Nnnn… "

"You look like you've been to Hell and back."

I tried to sit up, and was opposed by gravity. Strong arms caught me.

"Where…. Where am I?"

"L2 Colony."

"Wha…what? Where's that?"

"You must've hit your head, come with us."

"My.. head..?"

I realised that whoever was speaking to me was not speaking in my tongue, but I could understand him perfectly.

I was hoisted to my feet. I could not see the people supporting me, but one of them was talking to me again.

"The name's Solo. What's yours?"

"I…I don't have one."

"Oh." A pause, and I was put on something soft. "Here, I'll go find you something to drink."

All that followed was the familiar darkness.


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Notes: **Right.. Uhm... is it okay that writing this chapter made me cry? sniffle Attn: **ANGST ANGST ANGST**. Okay, now that that's over...YAY! 20 reveiws! Thank you to **kyokorain, C-chan a.k.a. Neptunesdemon,**and **keichiisei** for reveiwing!You guys rock my socks!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Gundam, anything associated to.. that belongs to Bandai...

**For those who missed it: ANGST!ANGST!ANGST!

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**Chapter Seven**

I have been found by an agency, one that recruits soldiers. It is exactly what I had wanted. Where better to train? The methods that they use however, are strange. They have injected a series of strange chemicals into me, and I could have done nothing to stop them. They talk of a "perfect soldier." It seems that this is what I am to become. I was already very capable with all of the weapons that they had given me, with the exception of their "guns," which are, in their own right, very simple, it took only a week to master them. I understand that the chemicals that they have been injecting into my body will make it stronger; they call the chemicals "steroids." I am told that I will be undergoing a new type of temperament today, a new type of training. As I have already graduated all of the physical training exams, I wonder what it is.

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I am lead into a small, confined room. In it, there is a table, and a man sitting behind it on a chair. On one side there is a two way mirror.

"Kill him."

I look up at my instructor in surprise. He hands me a gun.

"What is his offence?"

My instructor just laughs.

"You do not ask questions, you merely do what has been asked of you."

I find this very surprising. Surely they would not make me kill someone for no reason. Comforted by this assumption, I level the gun at the man on the table. He looks up, and I can see that he has been crying. A few seconds later, he is slumped over on the table, blood oozing from between his brows.

"Very good. There are no further exercises for you today. Report back to this room at oh-eight-hundred hours tomorrow."

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Lying on my bunk, I puzzle over today's training. I wish that I still had some of my magic, allowing me to read the true thoughts and intentions of others. I am now not so very sure that the man that I shot was guilty of any crime that would warrant capital punishment.

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At precisely oh-eight-hundred hours, I was outside the door of the small room, awaiting my instructor. When he appeared, I asked him,

"Why did I kill that man?"

His simple reply was,

"Because I told you to."

He unlocked the door, and stepped inside the room, gesturing that I should follow. When I stepped inside, I noticed that the blood had been cleared away. Where the dead man had sat yesterday, there was another man, holding what must have been his young daughter on his lap. Realizing what they were going to make me do, I was overtaken with horror. She couldn't have been more than three years old. She had big, blue eyes, the same shade as her father's. Her almond brown hair was pulled into two ponytails on either side of her head, and she was clutching her father's shirt, crying and asking for her mother. I wanted to go and comfort her, to tell her that I would find her mother for her, and not to worry. _I won't kill her… I could never harm an innocent! _As I made to move in her direction, my instructor stopped me. He was smiling. He handed me a gun, and said,

"Go and shut that child up. Permanently."

I didn't move. Panic and revulsion had started to flare in my gut. They wouldn't… They couldn't make me. I won't… I can't! But the man from yesterday came suddenly to my thoughts. I had done it already. I had killed him with a scarce second thought. _If I had known…I could have guessed. I should have said no, how could I have KILLED without a fucking REASON?_

I was snapped out of my thoughts by the cold muzzle of the glock that was resting against the back of my neck.

"Kill them."

The little girl was now wailing, and the man had tears glistening on his cheek.

"Kill me, I don't care, but for God's sake! Let my daughter go!"

I heard a click behind me as my instructor cocked his gun. What kind of fucked up training was this? Why am I being forced to kill innocent people?

"Don't worry sweetheart, Angels will protect you." The near-hysterical man was trying to calm his daughter.

_Angels… will protect you…I'm sorry little girl. There are none of God's almighty Angels here. I'm sorry, I can't afford to die. If I die, all most certainly will die, if not now, then when the wars of demons and angels fall upon them. If the barriers should fall…_

I took the gun. I felt the salty tears running down my face, running down her face, and her father's face. I could feel and hear her heart beat, and I knew that when it ceased, the silence would haunt me forever. Apparently the Sight had not abandoned me completely. Time slowed. I looked into her blue eyes, and fired. Once, twice. Blood splattered the wall. Her father slumped, dead. I fired again. Her oh-so-innocent face exploded into a mass of flesh and blood, and I fell to the ground, retching, pointing the gun to my temple, only to have it kicked away by the instructor. Pain like I had never felt in my training in either realm filled my head, my heart…every part of my body hummed with it. Tears spilling hot and wet down my face. I vomited again and again… I wished to see my own blood spilled for what I had done. Shaking. Can't stop shaking, and vomiting, and crying. No one touches me, and I feel that I may burst with pain. I hear the two-way mirror shatter, and the room pulses and vibrates with my power… my pain. I wish that I were dead.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's notes: **Again, an angsty chapter. Man, I have a new favourite song, and I have been listening to it most of the time I wrote this: _Broken-_Seether. sniffles So sad. Thanks to **Kyokorain, C-chan a.k.a. Neptunesdemon, Fantasy or Reality, Rhuinnes **(Who reveiwed every single chapter at once- you made my day dude:)) and **keiichisei **for reveiwing. Yay! I have 31 reveiws! I'm thinking that this chapter isn't quite up to snuff, though., feedback would be great.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Gundam Wing. (sigh)

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**Chapter Eight**

By the time I had returned, Solo was unconscious on a couch. Those strong enough to stand were crowded around him, horrified and crying. Walking over, I realized why he was so strong, why his name was Solo. He did it for the others in our crew. He did it because he had to, because no one else could. I knew he was dying, as a demon, I could sense it. But I couldn't accept it.

"Solo… I"

"Sorry Kid. I can't…"

"No… I stole the antidote… You have to-"

"Thank you."

"No, I mean… It's you… what can I do? I'm nothing… I'm worse than nothing. Without you, what are we going to do? Please-"

"Take care of the others for me."

It dawned on me, if he had to die, then he would always be with me.

"Duo."

He knew what I was saying; he knew that I had given myself a name that would contain his spirit.

"Duo… Take care of them."

He smiled; his sickly, ghoulish face lit up. He was the first being ever to treat me as an equal. And I can't save him. Not even with an antidote.

_I remember when he fell. The Plague had ravaged the colony. It had spread quickly and mercilessly through the streets. Haru-san was the first one of our gang to catch the deadly virus. When he became ill, everyone stayed away from him. We all knew how contagious the Plague was. When a few more succumbed to the malady, everyone except Solo was afraid. He stayed at their bedsides, soothing their fevers and headaches with wet rags. Only I seemed to notice that he was also losing weight, and only I noticed that when Solo did leave his sick comrades, it was to vomit behind the old warehouse in which we lived. I confronted him about it. I had gone out-back and found him dry heaving beside a green dumpster. I remember the way he had turned and looked at me, grey eyes pleading, and guilty. _

"_Solo-" _

"_Please Kid, you can't tell them. I have to be strong, you don't understand. Without me, what would they do? I'm their big brother, their mother and their father. They can't know. If they found out…"_

_He didn't finish. He couldn't. He bent over and retched. His face was a pale grey. He was shaking so hard, it was a wonder he could still hold himself upright. I had knelt down beside him and swept the blonde hair off of his sweaty forehead. I held it out of the way when he became sick again. After what had seemed like an eternity, he sat up, only to collapse against me. I sensed the unhealthy heat of his skin against my own. I could sense him dying in my arms. Hot and fevered, his forehead rested against my neck, and I could feel his tears, running off of his face and onto my chest. The day he fell, I caught him. Eventually, the tears stopped; he got up, whispering thanks, and walked back into the warehouse; telling the others in his old laid back, humorous way, that nothing was wrong; he was just having digestive problems, if you get the drift. I don't know how long I sat outside by the dumpster, crying, but when I got up, it was almost morning. I ran; ran until I came to the Alliance camp at the edge of town. I climbed over the fence, and raced my shadow into the medical building. Stealing several vials of fluid marked as the antidote for the Plague virus, sterile needles, and (as an afterthought) extra gauze, I snuck back outside,and ran right into a sentry. They threw me in a cell, and walked out of the prison, stupidly leaving my stolen items on a table beside my chamber. Obviously, they had seriously under-estimated my resourcefulness. The iron-bar door was simply padlocked. I waited until dark. Fishing a pick out of my long hair, I had mentally laughed at their idiocy. It took me approximately one minute before I was out of the cell, with my goods, and over the fence, on my way home. _

"Goodbye Duo, see you in the afterlife." His last words.

Crying, his body close to mine, we waited in silence. Eventually the others who weren't sick, and those who were, distributed the vaccine among themselves. Soon, Solo and I were the only ones awake. His head on my chest, I told him about Dehouen, my life, the Great War, and stories that I had picked up at one point or another. I wasn't sure he heard me most of the time, but I kept talking anyways. I had been forced into silence for so long, it felt good to just talk until my voice turned hoarse. Early into the morning, Solo took his last breath. I realise I still cannot fathom a life without him; I break. He who had not forsaken me from the beginning had abandoned me in the end. Why? Why should Solo die, when he was the best of us? Why not me?

_I scream at myself, stumbling down the dark and blurred halls of grief. I receive no answers. Anger risingas the hurt consumes. I must bury my hatred. Was this the love that I had sought my entire life? Why did it ache? Screaming, screaming, screaming. Strung out on emotions that I've never felt before. I feel dead. No.Death can't be this bad, no, the pain is too great for death, I must still be alive. _Alive..


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Notes:** Thank you to all who reveiwed. I am soo sorry it took so long to update. And now cames another cliffhanger ending. I apologise in advance. Heh. Now things get interesting.. and -gasp- a plot appears. I shall hinder you no further. Enjoy.

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**Chapter Nine**

_Panting, Nietori ran. He ran faster than he had ever run in his life. He could sense Blaze's distinct aura behind him, but it was warped, twisted with a tainted, oddly mutilated, wrongness. Wings tore through his shoulder flesh, and Nietori took flight. As fast as his angels wings were, they could not escape this path of destruction, this disfigurement of pure magic. It ripped through Araeisth, obliterating everything that it touched. Blaze screamed, and, in mid-flight, Nietori turned, to see his friend caught in the wave of death. Blaze's human features twisted in agony, his flesh melting away to partially reveal his ethereal face. He screamed again, and looked directly at Nietori with one Prussian blue eye, and one dark, grey eye. His last thought came into Nietori's head, as he too, was consumed by the rumbling torrent of magic. _

"_I couldn't stop it. I was not enough," he opened his mouth, forcing the anguish from his body and soul out in a guttural screech- _

Nietori woke, shaking, sobbing, and clutching at anything and everything around him. Blaze had been in his vision… but what could have happened?

Sweeping out of his bed, ignoring the clash of warm, moist skin against cold, sterile air, he found his way in the darkness over to a basin in the corner of his bedchamber. The Conspicionaes was filled with cool water. Looking through the clear liquid to the bottom of the basin, Nietori let out the breath that he had been holding in. As if sensing his anxiety, the water rippled, from the center outwards, small waves lapping against the edges of the Conspicionaes. Nietori concentrated on the images from his dreams. The water now sloshed away from the center, spilling over the sides of its stone container. Picturing clearly Blaze's melting face, and feeling again the emotions and pain of the dream, brows drawn together and mouth held in a grimace of absolute focus, a single word escaped from between his tightly pursed lips: "Aeperi."

As the echoes of the whisper died away, the water of the Conspicionaes began to take a different texture. Partially liquid, partially solid, and partially gas, the edges began to emit a tangy, pungent steam. The gaseous substance traveled inwards, until the entire bowl gave off wisps of vapour. Nietori snapped open his eyes, releasing his visions fully to the Conspicionaes. Erupting in blue flame, the mist and smell disappeared. Watching the flames closely, Nietori slowly reached out to collect the iron goblet which always stood on a stone pedestal beside the basin. Lifting the heavy cup to the flames, he dipped it into the center of the contrivance, filling it with ice cold fire. As he lifted the goblet from the blazing bowl, the flames went out, leaving blackened, steaming water. The iron goblet however, was still very much ablaze, and stepping back from the smouldering liquid, Nietori raised it to his lips, downing the icy inferno in one gulp.

Sensations heightened by the potion, Nietori felt as of he had just swallowed snow that did not melt, that stuck to the lining of his throat. He traced the icy sensation through his gut and into his veins; it spread through his heart, his lungs, numbing his legs, his arms, and finally his fingers, before the next sensation took him: intense burning surging, tearing at his insides, flooding his frosted body. Eyes glazed, body humming with magic, Nietori's naked form fell to the floor.

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Standing in a flurry of rushing thoughts, emotions and physical sensations, Nietori waited for the potion to take full effect on him, to dull the keener of his senses and thus make this jumble easier to understand. Feeling slightly drunk, he began opened his mind to the visions that the magic of the Conspicionaes would send him.

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"_An institute. Sterile walls. A metal door. A young human sits on a bunk. Moss green hair falls over his face. Tears trace their path down to his chin. I feel Blaze's presence in him. He looks up, directly at me. I see the midnight blue eyes from my dream, filled with sorrow, and I know it is he. The sorrow is replaced with a steely, emotionless look, and I can feel the first tendrils of the stain seeping into Blaze, beginning to skew his aura. He fingers a black, metal object that he holds on his lap. He jumps off of the bunk, and places the object in a holster around his thigh. He puts on a tailored cloak, which appears to host several devices and several more copies of the object in the holster. He opens the door, peers around the corner, and slips outside, and quietly closes the door behind him. Seconds later, the room is filled with flames." _(1)

"_The human Blaze lies dying on a bed. Several men stand around him. One appears satisfied with Blaze's condition. They are talking. The one they call Odin Lowe keeps glancing in the direction of the bed. The men leave. Odin Lowe stays behind. After five minutes, he begins to set up little black boxes around the room. He pierces Blaze's skin with a metal device and pushes a liquid of some sort into him. Blaze's eyes open. He appears to be recovering. Odin Lowe explains something to him in an odd language, Blaze nods and tries to sit up. Odin picks him up and carries him out of the room. The room again fills with flames." _(2)

"_A slightly older version of Blaze kneels beside the Odin Lowe. He is dying. The stain seeps farther through Blaze's aura. After the man draws his last breath, Blaze runs away, and again flames fill my head." (3)_

A pause.

"This is where the visions became erratic and confusing, it's never happened to me before when I have used the Conspicionaes before."

"Keep going Nietori. I feel that the next visions will be ones of outmost importance." The Sage looked at her apprentice through distracting tendrils of hair that grew from her eyebrows, becoming so long that they fell in front of her eyes, to her cheekbones. Not that it mattered; the old angel was all but blind, as far as physical sight went.

"_Feelings are present, but visions have not yet come; even the feelings are primal, basic, and few. Pain is eminent; a heart beats in the background. Anger, followed by sorrow strikes the senses. Everything then disappears, except for the heart beat. No more emotions come."_

"_I face a human with green eyes and brown hair. There is something very familiar about his aura, but I do not know what it is. He steps to me, I feel afraid of his aura, of his power, and I push him away."_

"_There is fire, chaos, pain and suffering everywhere around me. It is my dream over again, the wave of death is again unleashed upon us, but everything ends just as Blaze opens his mouth to scream." (4)_

"_I find myself once more facing this man, with green eyes and brown hair. He beckons, but I cannot go to him. I know his aura. Intimately. Every nuance is familiar. He smiles at me, and steps closer. As he embraces me, a new vision comes to me."_

"_In my own hands, I am holding a black object like that of Blaze's. I am running from something, and I cannot tell what it is. A almost matured version of Blaze leans into me, bleeding."_

"This is all?"

Nietori nods. "The man… with green eyes. I know him. Who is he?"

The Sage puts a hand to his forehead. She says quietly, "Can you send his aura for me?"

Nodding, Nietori pictured the man in his head, and focused on the aura. Almost immediately, The Sage pulled away her hand. Looking up at her face, which was contorted in a grimace that would have scared anyone but her apprentice, Nietori said, "You know him."

"Yes."

"Do I?"

She smiled, letting the grimace slip away. "Yes, you do know him."

"Who is he?"

"Sleep, Nietori, I will discuss this with you when I know more myself."

Knowing better than to argue, Nietori fell worn out, onto his bed, and welcomed the dreamless sleep that came after using the Conspicionaes.

* * *

**(1**)Right. Because I'm lazy, and because I'm starting to get really bored with recap ofHeero/Blaze's life, I did a lot of it here. After heand Odin Lowe escape fromthetraining facility, thestoryline, and timeline, follow that of the manga "Episode Zero." Which, might I add, since I haven'tseen the series since I was about nine years old, is my god. If you're confused about the use of first person in the flashbacks, it's because Nietori was describing them to the Sage.

**(2) **This is where Heero/Blaze meets Odin Lowe. It is entirely speculation on my part. I don't think it actually happened in the mangas or the series.

**(3) **This actually did happen in "Episode Zero."

**(4) **I know who the man is and you don't! Well.. you know who he is in the series.. (I hope) But I know who he -really- is. -Wahahahaha-

I really will try to hurry with the next chapter, but as Latin is currently taking any spare time available to me, the next section will be either shprt, or a long time in coming. Sorry, again. Oh, and I promise that in the next chapters, and at the latest chapter twelve, this story will actually get under way. I'm sorry it's taking so long to explain!

Cheers

Inky.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: **Erm... -peeks out from behind large sheild- It took a while eh? Gomen. Happy Birthday Ko-chan:)

So... things are really starting to get interesting.. hopefully there's a plot somewhere within the prose. Introductions are my weak point. They tend to go on forever.. ten chapters say.

Without further Ado... Happy reading

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Humans truly are terrible creatures. Their short lives are destructive, pointless. So many of them search for a purpose in it, but die too soon to accomplish much. Such were my thoughts from the moment Solo died until the moment Father Maxwell explained to me the concept of God. Initially, I laughed in his face. As a demon, gods played a very small part of my life. As something that could be neither proved, nor refuted, gods were for the most part, ignored in Dehouen.

These humans, however, religion runs rampant among them like a perpetual epidemic. Some "holy men" I had met before the Maxwell Church took me in could only be described as proficient and malicious con artists, which did not spawn any goodwill from me. Father Maxwell, however, was man who was as unique as he was ceaselessly compassionate. He did not deny the follies of humankind, and did not deny that many millions of people had been slaughtered in the name of his God. He mourned these things, and told me that the men who instigated them were not people he had to answer for. He told me they had been overwhelmed by their greed, and it was up to us to learn from their mistakes and make sure that lives weren't lost for nothing. He went on to explain that though not everyone followed the same rituals as he and others of his faith did in thanking the Supreme Being who gives purpose, everyone had connections with Him in some way. His job as a minister was to guide those who wished to practice homage in the Christian way. He told me that you have to trust God to do His work in His ways.

I admired that humans had found such an imaginative way to give their lives meaning, and I now understood that religion, be it by threat or by promise, inspires people to do good unto others. I admired Sister Helen and Father Maxwell, not because of their faith, but because of their undying love of all humans, and their kindness to the harshest of them. The God however, I could not accept that one being ultimately controls all things good, and one, all things bad. I chose to believe in one thing that had been proven to me: Death. It continues to be proven. When those who hungered for power or peace or carnage ( I know not which, because those three seem to always be so intricately intertwined) took over the colony, they blew up what little of my life I had pieced back together. The Church is gone. Everyone who became close to me has died…Father Maxwell and Sister Helen are gone. Solo… long gone. The memories of Dehouen have also faded.

Three things have emerged from this rubble of previous existence: a name, a motto, and a dark one. I am Duo Maxwell. I run, I hide, but I never tell a lie. The dark one can kill; he can survive. He is raw instinct and power: he is Shinigami, the God of Death.

XxxxxxXxxxxxXxxxxx

"It is dangerous Nietori."

"I know."

"I know you know…I just-" Nietori slipped his arms around the Sage, his mother and father since before he could remember. Yet it was the closest he'd ever come to expressing anything other than outmost respect for her. Now, in these last minutes before he was to depart for Naejhek, to become the man he had seen in his vision, he felt he ought to… well, to show his love or something. The Sage hugged him back, demonstrating surprising strength for an angel of more then a thousand years of age. Breaking the embrace only when the assistant Mage beckoned to him, Nietori crossed the room to offer his body to the Mage's odd device that would somehow thrust him into Naejhek. He lay down inside the coffin-like contraption, as Blaze had once done. He closed his eyes, waiting for the blue magic that had encircled Blaze to encircle him. He felt a tingling in his fingers and toes that spread up his arms. It was almost… painful. As though the room and the coffin had dropped from around him, Nietori was buoyant; floating… something tearing at the edges of his mind, eroding him, his meories… sucking them up as fast as Nietori could try and stop it. Something is terribly wrong, he thought. He had just long enough to dwell on the consequences of his death before this idea too was stolen.

XxxxxxXXxxxxxxX

I lie back on the grass. Breathing. Remembering Nietori, for some reason; I'll never see him again. In my memories I can see him, his long silver-blond hair kept neat and tidy in a clasp at the base of his neck, his wide blue eyes vibrant against his dark skin, and the small smile that almost never left his lips… My friend from birth, always the one with the ideas that got us in trouble. He's the one I missed most, and now he's only a memory.

"Are you lost?" I sit up quickly. The speaker is a young girl. She has a dog at her side. Her question… Am I lost?

"I've been lost since the day I was born." _Into this place…Into Naejhek._ She looks like the man's daughter. _No… Don't make me kill her again._

"Oh. That's so sad, I'm not lost at all, I'm taking Mary for a walk. Here." She hands me a flower. "I'll give you this flower." _I don't deserve a thing from you. _"Bye now!" She runs away with Mary the dog. Leaving me behind, lonely, tired. I fail to realize that this is the last time I will feel emotion for a long while.

ooooooooooooo

I stand in the rubble that was once a large apartment complex. It is snowing, but I can't feel it. I search for the girl and her dog. It wasn't supposed to happen. I was supposed to get rid of the neighbouring militia base. But here I stand, all around me the result of my fuckup. Just one of the many "accidents" that happen during a war and claim the lives of thousands. But I'm not thinking about that. The girl, I have to find her and her dog. It's important to me that she is alive. I can't kill another child. I just… can't. I see her dog, lying in a pile of God-knows-what-it-used-to-be, dead.

She's dead then. At this point, I feel I should be crying, but there aren't any tears left. I guess I wasted them all on the others. I should be disappointed, infuriated, revolted; I've just killed several hundred human beings. Several hundred human beings, who will never cry, never laugh, never smile, never love again. Their lives gone, wasted. But I'm not even sad. I can't feel a thing. I pick up the dog, still holding the flower in my fist. I'm not weary, and I don't regret it. I'm not living anymore. I'm a tool. I am resigned to what is assigned to me, and I'll live out my life like that. I can't remember Araeisth. I can't even remember why I'm here.

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-waves sign that says "will work for reveiws"- -wink, wink, nudge, nudge- 


End file.
